Lisk: Seahawks aren’t serial holders, despite claims

Just before the playoffs, the Wall Street Journal ran an article titled “The Seahawks’ Grabby Talons“, which alleged that their defenders “mug, obstruct and foul opposing receivers on practically every play.” The piece is long on anecdote, short on actual data…The piece gives the impression that Seattle’s defense is basically built upon the use of physical contact of a questionable variety on every play. (It also spawned this guest article at Advanced NFL Stats, which makes some pretty wild assumptions about the use of the tactic).

The problem with Lisk's piece is that it presents no baselines, and the Seahawks are the most oft-penalized team in the league this year.

Doug is IAOFM’s resident newsman and spelling czar. Follow him on Twitter @IAOFM

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I'd laugh my butt off if the refs came down hard on holding/contact. Manning would have about 20 yards of passing, but the Broncos would still have over 30 points on the board...lol....

Posted by John Tomasik on 2014-01-31 10:27:07

So, they get penalized on 4.6% of all pass attempts is what you are saying?

Posted by Steven_Searls on 2014-01-31 08:16:45

Right, but teams threw far more often against Denver than they did against Seattle (613 attempts versus 524).

Posted by Douglas Lee on 2014-01-31 07:56:51

Seattle's 11 defensive holding penalties and 13 DPI penalties both lead the league, although that's not all that fair because that includes the playoffs. On a per-game basis, they rank 2nd in both categories.

Of course, there's a saying about glass houses that might be applicable here, since Denver is 5th in defensive holding penalties per game and 6th in DPIs per game...